Hogwarts' Golden Glory

When Kane finally pushed open the oak door to his dormitory, the moonlight outside the window had already turned silvery-gray.

This means it was at least past 2 a.m.

He tiptoed inside, but as he turned to lock the door, he heard a deliberately loud "click."

Ig stood on its gilded perch, its back to the doorway, every blue feather bristling, making it look like an angry ball of fur.

Even from just his back, Kane could feel the almost tangible resentment emanating from him.

"Igor?" Kane called softly, taking off his dragon-skin boots, which were covered in mud from the Forbidden Forest. "I brought the Moonbeetle..."

The phoenix's tail feathers trembled slightly, but it quickly regained its proud posture.

It began to preen the feathers on its wings at an extremely slow pace, making a soft "tap" sound with its beak with each preen.

This is Phoenix's unique way of expressing "I am very unhappy".

Kane crept closer, pulling a handful of beetles gleaming with a pearly sheen from his pocket. "Look, the freshest ones, their wings still glistening with dew..."

Igor tilted its head slightly by fifteen degrees, just enough for it to see the beetle out of the corner of one eye, while maintaining an angle that said, "I'm not turning my head for food."

It made a nasal sound that was somewhere between a "gurgle" and a "hum".

"I know I'm late," Kane said, placing the ladybug in a silver dish on the windowsill.

"But that's because I have something very important to do! By the way, I need your involvement in this!"

Kane sat cross-legged on the carpet, a small crystal bottle in front of him, staring at Phoenix Ig.

"Listen, Igor," Kane said seriously, "I need your tears to cure the poison. I don't need them now, but I definitely will in the future, so let's collect some now. And I don't want to force you with magic."

Igor tilted his head and made a gurgling sound as if to say, "So what do you want?"

Kane suddenly pulled a bunch of onions from behind his back: "Option A!"

Ten minutes later, Kane was in tears, while Igor stood on the windowsill, looking at him as if he were an idiot.

The phoenix's nostrils have the function of automatically filtering out irritating odors.

"Okay, Option B!" Kane blew his nose, opened "Fantastic Beasts: The Emotional Trigger Guide," and turned to the Phoenix chapter: "'Phoenixes are highly susceptible to emotional responses to beautiful music'..."

Five minutes later, the violin that Kane conjured with the Transfiguration Charm made a sound like a cat's tail getting caught in a door.

Instead of crying, Igor covered its ears with its wings and dropped three feathers from its tail feathers in protest.

"Looks like music isn't your cup of tea." Kane awkwardly put down his instrument. "Then... Option C!"

He conjured a mirror and placed it in front of Igor: "Look, the most beautiful creature in the world!"

Igor admired his reflection in the mirror for a moment, then triumphantly breathed out a small ball of celebratory flame, which curled Kane's bangs.

"Ouch—it's so hot!" Kane swatted the sparks out of his hair. "Okay, vanity won't work either..."

"Option D!" Kane suddenly snapped his fingers and pulled a shiny little bottle from the bedside table.

"It's said to be a magic pepper used exclusively by Romanian dragon keepers—it makes dragons sneeze and their eyes water!"

Ig took two steps back warily, its neck feathers standing on end.

The moment Kane pulled the cork, a cloud of red smoke exploded with a "bang".

Before he could even sprinkle the pepper, he was choked and sneezed three times in a row, each one louder than the last. The last sneeze even knocked over the water glass on the bedside table.

"Achoo! Wait, why am I spraying even though this thing is in a bottle?! Achoo!"

Igor stood on top of the wardrobe, watching Kane run around the room like a character from a Muggle cartoon, his sneeze sending him sprawling, before he finally "thudded" against the wall and slowly slid down.

The phoenix let out a series of "clucking" sounds, like laughter, its eyes gleaming with schadenfreude.

"This isn't funny at all..." Kane muttered, rubbing his red nose, when he suddenly noticed small print on the bottom of the bottle: [Warning: This product is also effective on the user].

He angrily threw the bottle into the trash can, and the magic trash can sneezed so loudly that it sprayed the bottle cap all the way up to the ceiling.

Kane was now sprawled out on the carpet, looking like a frog under a relaxation spell.

His nose was bright red, his robes were covered in red powder from magic pepper, and a tuft of charred curls stuck up comically on his head.

"I surrender..." He weakly held up a white handkerchief (actually his sock), "You win, the most stubborn phoenix in the entire magical world."

Igor gracefully flew down from the top of the wardrobe and landed on Kane's chest, the weight of which made him let out a "yelp".

The phoenix tilted its head and gave Kane's nose a light peck in a victorious manner—immediately triggering a series of new sneezes.

"Achoo! Stop, stop, stop... I give up, okay?" Kane mumbled, covering his nose, then his eyes lit up. "Wait... if I can't get you to cry..."

He sat up abruptly, nearly knocking Igor over.

The phoenix flapped its wings in dissatisfaction, and a few blue feathers drifted down onto Kane's messy black hair.

"Dumbledore's Phoenix!" Kane snapped his fingers excitedly, and a small wisp of black smoke emerged from his fingertips.

The pepper seemed to have almost caused Kane's magic to get a little out of control.

"Fox must cry a lot; there are so many lemon-flavored Olafs in the old principal's office..."

Ig suddenly bristled its feathers, growing to twice its normal size, and its amber eyes narrowed dangerously.

It pecked Kane hard on the forehead with its beak, leaving a noticeable red mark.

"Hey! I was just kidding... Why are you so protective of Fox?" Kane muttered, rubbing his forehead, but his eyes darted toward the automatic writing quill on the desk.

The pen seemed to sense its owner's thoughts, and it jumped up and wrote on the parchment: [Midnight Operation Plan: 1. Sneak into the principal's office 2. Bring a bag of lemon candies 3. Prepare a bottle to catch tears]

Igor angrily breathed out a ball of fire, burning the parchment to ashes. The ashes formed the word "NO" in the air before falling heavily onto Kane's head.

"Okay, okay..." Kane patted the dust off his hair and suddenly let out a huge yawn.

"Merlin, it's almost three in the morning..." He staggered to his feet and walked like a drunkard towards the four-poster bed. "We'll figure it out tomorrow—Achoo!"

The last sneeze sent him flying onto the bed, where he landed face down on the pillow.

Ig shook its head helplessly, pulled the blanket over its master with its paws, and then considerately brushed the pepper powder off his hair with its wings.

This owner can be quite mischievous at times.